As soon as Raven stepped out of the tent, she approached Gray, who had been talking to Shia about the clan.
"Take care of the camp, we'll be gone for a bit." Raven said as she passed by, grabbing her dust sheathe.
"Going hunting?" Gray asked, glancing over at Yin, who was preparing herself to fight.
"No. Yin and I will be fighting. Nobody should approach us." Raven replied.
"Well shit. You don't want us to clear the Grimm out beforehand? The Rabbit girl's strong. Figure she can do it in a few minutes." Gray responded, eyes narrowing at the sudden seriousness from Raven.
"No need. We'll be going all out, Gray." Raven looked back at her as she answered.
"Woah..! Hold on, Rae. Sparring is one thing. But full force on a thirteen year old!?" Gray stood up in agitation.
"Eh? What's the big deal?" Shia, who was sitting nearby, asked.
Raven and Gray silently looked at each other, as if having a silent confrontation. Two distinct pressures descended on the camp. A crimson aura and a silver aura ignited from the two, violently shaking the tents around them as the pressure increased. Both had their palms resting on their weapons, waiting for the other to make a move first.
"Are you questioning me, Gray? She's my daughter. She wants to go out into the world? Fine. But she has to prove herself first." Raven stated, the crimson aura surging out of her pressing down on Gray's silver aura.
Gray's aura receded as she glanced at Yin, who simply nodded in response to her Mother's statement. The short haired former bandit sighed and folded her arms.
"Don't die on us, kid. I've taken a liking to you. I'll make sure nothin' reaches us here in the camp." Gray acquiesced, sitting back down.
"Yin..?" Shia quietly called out, while Raven nodded, her aura receding as she began to walk out of camp.
Yin simply smiled and pat the top if her head. "I'll be back."
The camp quietly watched as both mother and daughter walked out. A tense atmosphere had been built up, which was only dispersed a minute later as Phestus loudly burped and brought a drink to the table Gray and Shia sat at. The blacksmith grunted as he fished a black flask out of his pocket and tossed it to Gray, who caught it and took a quick swig in frustration.
"Rarely see this side 'a Raven eh?" Phestus asked.
"She can be overprotective in rare circumstances. Yin's got insane potential.. but she set us on this path. We can't afford to lose her." Gray hung her head with a snarl.
"What is so dangerous about Miss Raven fighting her all-out?" Shia spoke up, getting an uncomfortable side glance from the two.
Phestus ignored the question and took out a cigar for himself, lighting it and taking a drag. Gray shook her head at him before explaining. "You're probably familiar with what the public knows about Huntsmen. To the public, they're people with weapon's training, transforming gun weapons and a cool forcefield called 'aura'. I get that right?"
Shia blinked, then nodded quickly, her ears rapidly flopping up and down.
"That's a basic description of what an average cannon fodder huntsman can do. The ones who train themselves, or, at the very least, only went to prep schools for training. There's rankings for Huntsmen, going from Huntsmen-trainee to the very pinnacle, Elite Veterans. Those aren't just rankings though. We use them to describe the power ranking too. Raven, is an Elite Veteran. In both official ranking for Huntsmen, and in power. There's less than a hundred people on Remnant with that kinda ranking. I myself am only a Veteran." Gray explained, watching her words sink in.
"And she's.. going all out on Yin?" Shia slowly asked, having finally dawned on her.
Though she knew what Yin was capable of, Shia couldn't help but worry. She seriously doubted she would use her Dragon form to fight her own Mother. Unless she was seriously pressured, but even then, her pride may interfere. Shia briefly paused before turning her attention back to Gray.
"So.. how capable is Raven?" Shia asked, despite understanding the power ranking, she needed to know what someone with that kind of power was capable of.
"Raven could solo the camp easily. Even putting Gray and I, who are both Veterans, in the mix. It'd only take her ten minutes at most. There's a large gap in the last two ranks. Fuckin' chasm, really.." Phestus grunted, blowing smoke away from them.
"To get that kind of rank, you need to reach mastery in at least three aspects. There's the basics, like strength, speed and skill. Then there's the specialties, aura arts and Dust. Dust is a huge, versatile resource many skilled Huntsmen use. Aura arts are the same. Dust mages, Aura masters.. You can classify Raven as those. She's got a pretty solid mastery over all five aspects. It's what earned her rank, after all. Yin has her work cut out for her..." Gray muttered as Shia stood up.
"I believe in her! She's strong."
-Outside the Branwen camp-
Yin and Raven stood several meters apart in an expansive field of reeds. Raven stared her down, her thoughts hidden behind her stoic expression. Yin slowly exhaled, releasing the tension in her body as she prepared to fight.
[Observe: Activated]
[Status- Raven Branwen Race: Human Lv: 95 Age: 33 HP: 500,000/500,000 MP: 1000/1000]
Oddly enough, seeing the absurd amount of vitality her Mother possessed wasn't too shocking. It was the mana. Though it did explain the transformation. It was likely a spell which Ozpin taught her and her Uncle. Though, whether or not he imbued them with replenishing mana, she had no idea.
"My dear Daughter. Do not hold anything back in this fight. Come at me to kill, with whatever means you possess. I've been patient with you and your secrets, but today.. You show me everything." Raven stated, slowly unsheathing Omen from her dust sheath.
(Play whatever suitable fight song you want. For me, I wrote this to 'Ignition' by Toby Mac)
The blade she pulled out was entirely made of a bright yellow lightning dust. Yin's eyes widened, seeing the absurd number of sparks contained around the blade. Almost too fast to see, Raven swung her blade in an overhead arc. A huge arc of lightning flew straight at Yin, forcing her to use 'Accelerate' to move away from the attack that flew faster than sound.
BOOOOM!
The sound of thunder echoed out soon after the swing. Though Yin was too busy to think about it, having just enough time to block a rather powerful swing from her Mother. Yin felt herself being forced back, having blocked the strike with both Onikiri and Ubadachi, while the lightning dust blade screeched as electricity surged through the metal. Yin felt her hands go numb as she forcefully pushed Raven's blade to the side and swung with Onikiri in her left hand. Raven sidestepped it, eyes widening as the blade suddenly roared with blue flame, slashing out at her with a powerful force that made her back off.
'I didn't hit her hard enough to trigger Ignition. No.. this is something else.' Raven thought before leaping over a giant wave of blue flame, courtesy of her daughter swinging both of her blades at her horizontally.
CLANG!
"Hm..!" Raven tilted Omen while mid-air, catching the two strikes Yin tried hitting her with before twisting her body and kicking her surprised Daughter in the face faster than she could react.
SWISH!
Yin forcefully stopped herself as her body slammed into the field of reeds, just in time to duck a swing aimed at her neck. Yin stabbed Ubadachi into the ground and created a five meter whirlwind of blue flame, effectively pushing her Mother back temporarily. Only, she hadn't expected a crimson portal to open behind her and hit her with a concentrated flash of lightning.
CRAAAASH!!
Yin flew out of the whirlwind, her aura flickering from the sudden attack. Cursing in her mind, she activated her skills.
[Accelerate] [Mana Hike]
"Kh..!" Just in time to avoid being grabbed though a crimson portal.
Instead, Yin grabbed her Mother's hand and pulled her halfway through, gracing her with a fist to the face that smacked her right back inside.
"Fast.." Raven moved back a few meters, smirking at how quick to react Yin was, while pointing the dimming lightning dust blade at Yin.
"Shit.." Yin quickly ran to the side, though a bright yellow flash of light and a sharp pain in her side told her she took a glancing blow.
Still, the raw power of lightning made her body fly through the reeds once more. Yin winced and saw her Mother re-sheath and unsheath Omen once more, the dust revolver within switching to ice. Raven pulled out her blade, now an almost white icy blue that radiated frigid temperature.
"I see.. Everything then huh?"
Yin put her blades away, now believing in her Mother's words. Quickly reaching into her inventory, she pulled out 'Fatalis' and aimed the deadly weapon at her Mother.
Instantly, Raven felt danger as she looked at the small glare coming from the scope of the strange weapon Yin aimed at her. Raven swung her sword and created a thick wall of ice while using her aura boosted speed to move away.
VRRRRRRM! BOOOM!
An odd sound rung in her ears as the five meter thick wall of ice was pulverized in an instant. The air around the fired projectile superheated, slightly damaging Raven's aura despite moving away just in time. Raven released a breath before refocusing on her incoming daughter, who brought down a large, curved greatsword made of strange metal and black scales.
BOOOM!
The impact was heavy and powerful enough to slightly crack her Ice dust blade. The sudden burst of blue flames made the blade steam as Raven was pushed back. The sheer heat coming from the massive weapon made the former Bandit Queen sweat. Yin forced the weight of the blade down, cracking the ice dust more and forcing her Mother back, putting her in range for the next attack.
A massive wave of flame flew out of the black blade, consuming a large portion of the reeds twenty meters in front of Yin. Though she didn't see her Mother in the field of flames, Yin hadn't lowered her guard.
RUUUUMBLE!
A rising pressure began to press down on her aura. Yin grit her teeth and looked up at the presence she felt bearing down on her. Raven floated in the sky, two massive black wings that resembled a Nevermore's jutting from her back. She was glowing a deep crimson, which made the sight all the more awe-inspiring and intimidating. Raven exhaled slowly, pointing the ice dust blade straight down.
"I underestimated her.." Yin muttered, before the field of flames was quickly extinguished. A massive spiral of ice rose through the field, upheaving the ground and shredding the reeds with its expansion. Yin leapt back, rapidly using 'Mana Hike' to evade the incoming ice wave. Once she retreated over a hundred meters back did it finally ease. Frost covered her hands and legs, slowly draining her aura.
"Are you holding back still? The weapon's impressive. But we both know where your specialty lies." Raven spoke, projecting her voice over to Yin using her aura, sheathing Omen once more, chambering another dust type.
"Heh... You're right. Though I can say the same to you." Yin replied before planting her foot on the ground and swinging the black blade with all her might, smashing part of the enormous ice spiral to pieces before quickly bringing Fatalis back into her inventory.
[Ignition: Activated]
In a blur of black and blue, Yin's body shot out, kicking and punching the ice shards at her floating Mother. Hundreds of tiny, razor sharp icicles flew at Raven as she pulled her blade out.
Raven drew out a black-purple blade, flicking her wrist and slashing her blade horizontally toward the incoming ice shards.
RUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!
An oppressive gravity wave flew out of Omen, not only redirecting the ice flying at her, but sending forth a tsunami of large and small ice chunks at Yin. Yin felt a grin etch its way onto her face as she saw the massive wall of ice fly at her that would surely severely wound her if it successfully hit. Planting her right foot forward, she took a deep breath, mana rapidly circulating into her mouth, as if she were devouring it.
Raven furrowed her brows as she watched her daughter. Her body burning a bright blue, while inhaling what she now recognized as magic. Her eyes widened in awe as Yin's presence fought against her aura fiercely, as if she willed her aura into a higher state to defy hers. Then, something she didn't expect happened.
▂▂▃▃▄▄▄▄▅▅▅▅!
A bellowing, beastly roar, followed by a sea of blue flames rushed out of her daughter's mouth. The ice instantly melted away and Raven watched as the field turned into a sea of fire.
But more surpising still, was her daughter's appearance.
Black scales on her arms, leading up to her hands, which had effectively become claws. Her head, now adorned with two wicked black horns. And lastly, her eyes, which now resembled some regal beast's. Pupils a sharp, oval shape, surrounded by a deepening purple iris, whereas before they were a lilac color.
"Let's start this seriously.."